2013 Beijing International Film Festival - Closing Ceremony (Photo : Getty Images)
Singer Jay Chou’s concert in Chengdu, China, in 2016 was canceled although the concert tour was successful in other Chinese cities such as Qingdao, Fuzhou and Changsha. When netizens investigated why only the Chengdu concert was canceled, they discovered it was not just due to civil works in the area.
City Relocates Stadium
Toggle reported on Thursday that city authorities decided to instead relocate the Chengdu Sports Centre Stadium which is a favorite venue for concerts and sports events. It turns out that the city discovered a Ming Dynasty-era landscape gallery where the stadium once stood.
Based on images circulating on the internet, most of the structures of the stadium were removed. The diggings yielded ancient wells, streets and other artifacts. Authorities told JVR Music, the label of Jay Chou, that the sports stadium would be renovated. They even suggested that the label could instead hold the concert in neighboring cities such as Kunming and Chongqing.
Jay Chou Used to Concerts Being Delayed
But JVR Music could not find an alternative venue for the concert which is part of Jay Chou’s Invincible World Tour in 2016. It was not the first time that the singer had to give way. According to Jaychoustudio.com, in 2008, he had to delay his concerts in Beijing, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Wenzhou, Xi’an and Qingdao delayed to support the Summer Olympics Games.
His Chengdu concert was pushed to November, but it was still held at the Chengdu Sports Centre Stadium. A Sichuan performance company that organized Jay Chou’s Chengdu concert signed a contract with the sports center operators in March. The event was slated on July 11, but because it was too close to the Aug. 8 opening date of the Olympics, the concert was moved to late 2008.
The Olympics also caused a delay or change in the schedule of other artists such as Jolin Tsai’s Nanjing concert in June and Alan Luo’s Guangzhou concert in July.
